Lily charged up the girls' staircase. "How dare you! How could you!" Lily screamed the second she burst through the dormitory door.

"Do what, Lily dear?" Lauren asked calmly from her bed.

"'I've given this quite a bit of thought. And I've come to the conclusion that, yes, I will go on a date with you… Please don't tell the girls, or the Marauders, that I've accepted your offer; only you and I know…" Lily let the words drip off her tongue like poison.

"Yes, aren't 'your' words beautiful?" Lauren smiled, leaping off her bed and crossing into the bathroom.

"Beautiful? My words! Lauren Rachael Hartigan, YOU wrote those disgusting words." Lily spat, following her into the bathroom.

"Have you seen my hairbrush? Not the blue one, the purple one?"

"What…No! Lauren! What am I going to do? What are you going to do? How dare you do this?"

"Oh, honestly! All you need is a little kick start with the boy and you'll be good to go. Here it is!" Lauren cried, emerging from under the sink with the purple hair brush.

"A kick start? A kick start!" Lily stared at Lauren as she dragged her hair back into a perfect ponytail. "I am appalled, I am shocked, I am pissed…"

"Lily, dear, you need to stop getting so upset. You look simply flustered, and no man likes a flustered girl." Lauren broke in with a voice a fair degree more polite then her normal voice. Switching back into her regular voice she rummaged into her trunk, "What's done is done. Just roll with the punches, and try to take everything at face value. It can't be but so bad, now can it?"

"I can't stand you!" Lily cried over her shoulder as she stormed back down into the common room. When she made it, James stood up quickly from the chair he had slumped into after she trudged up there.

"Lily? What's going on?"

"Evans, Potter! And I'm sorry to announce that you have been the victim of a very cruel practical joke of Ms. Hartigan's doing. I'm sorry for the inconvenience." She snapped, before chucking the balled-up note right at the bridge of his glasses, and storming off to the library.

Lauren emerged from the stairwell moments later, broom over her shoulder. "Sorry mate," She shrugged, "I did what I could." She offered him a weak smile, before making her way out of the common room as well. Peter sat up from where he had been sitting with his head against Linda's shoulder.

"Does this mean Remus and I will be the only ones with dates to Hogsmeade?"

"I guess so, Wormtail." James sighed dejectedly as he sank back into his chair.

"Who would've guessed?"

iIi

Lily came into the library slammed her fist down on the table next to Remus. "Honestly!" She whispered. "I can't take her."

"Can't take who?" Remus asked, gently placing his book down on the table. Even though their fifth year had just seemed to begin, the past few weeks of Prefect rounds taught Remus how to handle Lily when she was in one of these moods.

"That girl…that jerk, that…urg!" Lily took a deep breath and threw her head down into her hands. When she looked up a minute later, she whispered, "That woman will be the death of me, or I'll be the death of her, I haven't quite decided yet."

"Lauren?" Remus asked cautiously.

"Yeah."

"Sadly, I'd have to say the same goes for me."

"Oh, that's a horrible thing to say about your girlfriend." Lily whispered harshly.